Journalists take streets for freedom in Turkey

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Something wrong is happening in Turkey right when we speak and when you read this. Freedom of speech and of expression is being allegedly compressed and people, journalists, photographers, bloggers took streets yesterday in Istanbul as blogger and photographer

Sezayi Erken report.  Shoot4Change not only stands with them and with all who struggle for true freedom of speech and expression but will keep the eyes open on the development and will be available for all those who need a voice. Antonio Amendola/S4C

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And here is what Sezayi writes from Istanbul:

Thousands of Turkish journalists took to the streets in Istanbul on Sunday demanding the release of 68 arrested journalists and raising the issue of press freedom in Turkey.

Journalists supported by activists and some opposition parties carried banners that read “Freedom to Journalists” and “Justice Right Now.” The photographs of arrested and murdered journalists were raised and the crowd shouted slogans demanding press freedom after police recently detained eight journalists and two other people accused of having links with the so-called Ergenekon network that is accused of conspiring to topple the government.

Among those arrested were Nedim Sener and Ahmet Sik, who have raised concerns about freedom of press in the country. Ahmet Sik who was one of the journalists of Nokta Magazine, which had revealed that some generals were plotting to topple the government.

Nedim Sener, who last year receieved the “World Press Freedom Hero” award is also author of a book that blamed the security forces for the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 in front of the building of his Armenian weekly newspaper Agos.

After the last wave of Ergenekon related detentions, The European Parliament’s adoption report, which was revealed last week, pointed out the union’s concerns about freedoms, democracy and the judiciary system in the country.

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As the report emphasized, the Ergenekon case, which is expected to enlighten the shade of the country’s last four decades, should strenghten the country’s democracy.

The EU also noted that the recent detention of journalists might lead to a loss of credibility of trials and investigations of alleged coup plans, such as Ergenekon.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected any responsibility of the EU’s report and said last week, “The documents and reports published by the European Parliament bear meaning for Turkey only if a serious, constructive and objective approach is adopted” and added “In this report, there is no such thing as balance. I do not believe that the framers are  balanced either.”

Even though the “unbalanced” report called on the government to uphold the principle of press freedom and expressed doubts about “deterioration in freedom of the press” in Turkey, the government has not volunteered to increase freedoms.

Reporters Without Borders also said in a statement after arrests, “We are disturbed to see renewed heavy-handed treatment of journalists who reported facts that do not suit the government.”

Critics point that the Ergenekon case has degenerated into a campaign against critical media and the oppositions by the Islamic-rooted government.

Nowadays, 68 journalists are under arrest in the country and there are more than 2,000 open court cases against journalists and media outlets, and more than 4,000 ongoing investigations.

Turkey is ranked 138th out of 178 countries in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

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